Okay, I promised some Nia and other Esplanie and Castle kids, so here goes! Enjoy!
Prompt: All the Castle children (including baby Nate)
"Who woulda thought," Castle said as he, his wife, and their three youngest squeezed into their seats, wedged between the Esposito and Ryan families, "that our kids would be into ballet?"
"You say that as if it's something weird," Kate replied, rocking baby Nate in her arms.
"Well, I mean…I always say ballet as a kind of feminine thing," Castle replied shrugging. "You know, that close-minded thinking that it's for girly girls; not for boys."
Kate rolled her eyes at that. "Why does everybody think that?" she asked nobody in particular. "Ballet is extremely difficult."
"Got that right," Lanie put in, leaning forward to glare at Castle around Beckett. "My toes are still sore from those damn shoes."
"Hey!" Ryan exclaimed, covering his youngest son, Colin's, ears. "Language! There are children here!"
Lanie held up her own son, three-year-old Christopher. "You don't think I know that already?" she said. "All you gotta do is tell them not to use the word, Kev; works for my kids." Ryan didn't reply. "Anyway," she went on, turning back to Castle, "as I was saying; ballet is hard, Castle. It makes your whole body ache…'specially the toes; and it takes years to learn. But just because it's dance…that's what makes the men shy away, I think. A lot of them, anyway." She eyed her husband, who rolled his eyes.
"Can we please let that go?" he said, exasperated.
"No, we cannot," Lanie said. At Beckett's questioning look, she informed her, "He said that learning how to tackle a guy and run over some lines is harder than learning how to stand and turn while standing on your tip toes and doing a leap across a full stage while looking graceful and tall…please!"
Kate snorted at that, bouncing her son, who echoed the sound. She grinned down at him and kissed the fair brown hair on his head. He patted her cheek and she giggled.
In truth, she wasn't so much surprised by the fact that her eldest son, RJ, had chosen to take ballet with Nia and Claudia Esposito and Sarah Grace and Sinead Ryan; she was more surprised by the fact that he seemed to have a 'natural aptitude' for it, as their teacher, Madam Colette, had said. The French woman had simply gushed over him after only two weeks of class, telling Kate that she couldn't believe that such a young man could be as athletic and graceful as RJ was. Castle wasn't surprised, however.
"I always say he takes after you," he told her later that night. "Kid's like a gazelle; not at all like the bumbling rhino he has for a father." Kate had laughed at that and kissed him, stroking his cheek.
"You're not a rhino," she told him. "A big clumsy puppy, maybe, but not a rhino."
"I dunno," Castle replied. "Sometimes, I do get a little ho—" Kate had slapped her hand over his mouth at that, effectively silencing him.
And the first time she'd seen him in action…well, she had to agree both with her husband and Madam Colette; RJ was like a gazelle, graceful and quick on his feet. He caught Nia, who was usually his partner during dance numbers, like a pro, lifted her above his head like she weighed next to nothing—which, since she took after her petite mother, wasn't too far off from the truth—and the little girl was just as graceful. Her body barely shook with the strain of holding her body still when balanced on her toes, but Kate figured that had more to do with the fact that Lanie had been teaching her to dance since she could practically walk.
Claudia was a bit more like her father; impatient and energetic. The six-year-old always moved too quickly for the rhythm of the dance and was often chastised for it, but she was still young, still learning. And her mother and big sister helped her a lot. But she still had a long way to go.
Sarah Grace and Sinead, both like little Jenny clones, were not quite as graceful as Nia or RJ yet, but they were both talented in their own right. Jenny had been a ballerina through high school and, like Lanie, had taught her children basic moves before they had officially signed up for class. Sarah Grace didn't seem as serious about it as Sinead, but they both seemed to have a lot of fun during the rehearsals…even when they fell. The girls were nearly inseparable, too, despite their four-year age difference; it was actually Sinead's idea to start taking ballet when she was little and saw Nia, her best friend, sign up, and Sarah Grace went along, as well. Whatever one of them did, the other did—or supported them, at the very least, enthusiastically.
Kate looked next to herself, at the two girls sitting between her and Castle. Martha and Johanna, otherwise known as "Marti" and "Joey" were just as inseparable, but neither was much of a dancer. To Kate's delight, they preferred kick-boxing, which Kate had taken when she was young, as well. They still only had their yellow belts, but their teacher, Mr. Wright, told Castle and Kate that they would be moving up in class soon. Kate just hoped that there wouldn't be and mean boys who would bully them out of class the way they did to Kate when she was young; she hadn't gotten much further than a brown belt before she'd allowed two jerks to make her feel so bad that she finally just stopped going. She'd had to start over years later, in college, but she eventually received her black belt in kick-boxing—and then two more in Tae Kwon Do and Jujitsu. She hoped that the same wouldn't happen to her girls.
"Mommy," Joey said, looking up at her, green eyes twinkling, "when's the dancing gonna start?" Kate smiled down at her and stroked her cheek with her thumb.
"Soon, baby," she said. "Very soon."
"RJ's the star, right?" Marti asked, peering around her sister, at Kate.
"Not exactly," she said, honestly. "He's still too young, but he will play a big part."
"Really?" Joey asked. "Which part?"
"You'll see," Kate sighed; they must have told the twins a thousand times but, like their father, they usually got distracted by 'shiny' things. Or maybe that was just the seven-year-old sensibility…
She turned to look at her husband, who was attempting to catch gummy bears—where did he even get those and why hasn't he offered her any?—in his mouth and ended up hitting the elderly woman behind him, offering an apologetic smile at the action.
She sighed; there really is very little difference between her husband and a seven-year old, isn't there?
Just as she had this thought, the lights dimmed and music began to play; soft at first, then louder and more dramatically. In her lap, Nate peered around, surprised by the sudden lack of light, to be sure, as object permanence still hadn't developed in his brain yet. Kate chuckled, wrapping her arms around his tiny body, kissing his temple.
"It's okay, sweetie," she whispered soothingly in his ear, "the lights will come back." He moved back into her, turning to settle his head on her chest, repositioning himself to be cradled. She kissed him again and looked up just in time to see the lights come up and the curtains open.
There was a soft roar of applause, before the music's tempo changed and the first dancer appeared and Lanie practically clawed Kate's arm. Kate just smirked as she watched Nia look around, prancing gracefully from one end of the stage to the other. Kate could see the tears shining in Lanie's eyes as they watched Nia lead the first dance; she felt tears of her own prick at her eyes when RJ leaped on, dancing with just as much grace as he lifted the smaller girl and walked around the stage holding her, while Nia smiled brightly and shook only with a single giggle before schooling her features.
Throughout the rest of the show, even though they weren't the stars, those two shone on the stage. Kate was sure that anybody could see it; how two of the younger age group moved so flawlessly with each other and the rest of the dancers, lifting and leaping and turning and just being phenomenal.
By the end of the show, nearly everybody was on their feet for the bows, clapping and hooting as a few roses flew at the stage in cliché fashion. Nia and Claudia and RJ and Sarah Grace and Sinead all held hands as they bowed with the other children, all with bright smiles on their faces.
Afterwards, they met their parents with big hugs and kisses, talking excitedly about their show and how much fun it was to do. Nia practically climbed up her father's body, settling on his back and getting him into an imitation of a headlock, joking about how much stronger she was than him now because of all her practice. For his part, Espo pretended to choke for her, laughing along with her as he picked up Claudia.
"Both my girls are tough," he said, tickling the younger girl's side. "I'm so proud of you both." Though he would never admit to it, Kate knew that she saw him dabbing his eyes during the show, as much as—if not more than—Lanie.
"Thanks, Daddy!" they chorused.
"We're proud of you, too," Ryan told his daughters as he kissed each one of them. Jenny, holding their third daughter, Connie, pulled them in for a group hug, tugging their eldest son, Brandon, in as well. Meanwhile, Kate showered her son with kisses, making the boy blush bright red, but he never pulled away.
Once they were finished congratulating their children, Castle spoke up. "Who else is hungry?" he asked. "I'm thinking Remy's and then maybe we can go to Rockefeller to see the tree? Who's with me?"
"Me!" the uneven chorus of twelve high-pitched voices said at once. Castle laughed.
"It's settled then," he said, helping his youngest into their jackets. "Let's hit the road, gang."
He grabbed his wife's hand in his as he followed the line of children—all older siblings holding their younger siblings' hands—out the door into the blustery December night.
REVIEWS please! There will be more Nia and RJ shortly.
